Turkey's President and officials comment on Twitter ban

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul says ban on Twitter should be ended as soon as possible while others state that the courts imposed the ban not the politicians.

ANKARA

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul said on his official Twitter account Friday that a permanent restriction on accessing social media websites is not acceptable.

Gul wrote that he hopes that the blocking of access to Twitter within Turkey that began on Thursday night will end as soon as possible.

However, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Friday in Manisa said that the restriction of Twitter is not ban or prohibition; it is only the implementation of a decision taken by the Turkish court, upon the application of persons.

During his local election campaign in Manisa, Arinc said some social media sites had a tendency to broadcast irresponsible things and that they try to abuse people’s private lives and identity.

"Any court in any country would implement this kind of decision whenever it notices an attack against people's personal privacy rights," he added.